Useful and sharable resources for animal-based foods... that aren't scary

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February 23, 2024

When did you go down the rabbit hole and learn about the benefits of eating clean, animal-based foods? For me, it was when I was pregnant with my first child. I thought I was eating healthfully... but then my eyes were opened to so much more than is taught in health class and is accepted as "common knowledge" of the time.

And, come on, the internet can be such a scary place to learn about food. Eggs definitely give you high cholesterol. Drinking raw milk will definitely kill you. Lucky Charms are definitely healthier than grass-fed beef(anyone else see that NIH study about the new Food Compass rating system? Ugh). Who funds this stuff?

But once you find trusted sources (you know, the ones backed with unbiased research and typically not served to you by Google), you can't unlearn it. And, the more you learn, the more you want to learn. And, once you gain your food confidence, you want to share it, too!

Heck, if you're daring, maybe you even want to convert your friends that love fast food, are always on the latest trendy diet, or are vegan (gasp!).

Diet can strangely be a tough topic of conversation. After all, what you choose to put in your body is such a personal choice. And once someone makes that choice, they often have strong convictions that are hard to break. In my personal experience, anything contrary to someone's reality will be received as a "conspiracy". But, hey, that doesn't mean you shouldn't start the conversation if you want to!

And an important note: At Miller's Bio Farm, we support each person's food choices! It's something that you and only you can decide. And we hope that you transfer that same respect to others, even if your viewpoints differ 😊

So, this week, I started an amazing resource for you (and maybe even your friends)

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ANIMAL-BASED RESOURCE LIST

MILLER'S BIO FARM BLOG
Our blog is full of great animal-based articles. However, they're mostly about farming practices, the nitty gritty on food ingredients, and cooking techniques... not necessarily health (as those claims can be risky for a company to make). Here's a quick list of our most popular blog posts about health:

WEBSITES

Realmilk.com (raw milk specific)
Raw Milk Institute (raw milk specific)
Weston A. Price Foundation
Global Food Justice
Dr. Kiltz

SOCIAL MEDIA

Lindasy - @animalbased bae (IG)
Rachael Elizabeth - @ribeyerach (IG)
Sustainable Dish (IG and FB)
Weston A Price Foundation (IG and FB)
Chris Irvin - @theketologist (IG)
Dr. Gabeiwlle Lyon (IG)
Dr. Bill Shindler (IG)
Dr. Paul Saladino (IG)
Nourishing Our Children (IG and FB)
Strong Sistas (IG)
Ancestral Health Society (FB)
Joey Jurgovan - @joeysorts (IG)
Lineage Provisions - @lineageprovisions (IG)
Olivia Robertson-Moe, NTP - @revolveprimalhealth (IG)
Judy Cho - @nutritionwithjudy (IG)
Liz Haselmayer - @homegrown_education (IG)
The Primal Bod - @theprimalbody (IG)
Lily Nichols RDN - @lilynicholsrdn (IG)
Animal Based Nutrition - @freddie_alves (IG)

PODCASTS

The Regaissance Podcast

BOOKS

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Ok, I know I'm missing a lot here. Please, help!

What animal-based, real food resources do you love? Have any suggestions to add to our list?

Comment below (no account required - start typing for the guest option to appear) or contact us!

Raw milk or fermented dairy and lactose intolerance. Why might it help?

I was misinformed. At some point, I read that raw milk contains lactase. As it turns out, this is not true! It is true that raw milk contains many live enzymes that are inactivated during pasteurization. But, what about lactase? I’ve heard many anecdotal stories from people who are lactose intolerant... but can handle raw milk or fermented dairy. If raw milk, yogurt, kefir, or cheese doesn’t contain lactase, then why is that?

Our bone broth tested negative-ish for heavy metals 🥳 NATURAL AND CLEAN

Over the past few months a bunch of people asked us if we tested our bone broth for toxic heavy metals. When we get the same question a lot, we of course look into it. My first question was --- Is there an issue with toxic metals in bone broth? As it turns out, yes, there "can" be an issue! Heavy metals are naturally present in our environment. We need the "good" heavy metals to thrive: iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, etc. But, we can 100% do without the toxic heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, etc. Too many toxic heavy metals can lead to a host of pretty awful issues: nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues, cancer, endocrine disruption, kidney damage, and so on. Our body is designed to excrete heavy metals through urine (and a little bit through sweat, hair, and breastmilk too)... but only so much. There's a limit. If you're overloaded, your body will store those heavy metals in your bones, blood, tissues, and organs. Similarly, if an animal is exposed to heavy metals via food, water, air, dust, or soil, those heavy metals accumulate in the bones. Maybe the farm's soil or air is contaminated from a nearby factory. Maybe the pipes for the water has lead solder connecting them. Maybe the feed a farm is buying was grown on contaminated soil or processed on contaminated equipment. And, of course, a main purpose of bone broth is drawing out as much as possible from the bones. If there are heavy metals in bones, they will make their way into the broth. This is especially true when you pre-soak with apple cider vinegar and simmer for 48 hours to make it thick and gelatinous (like our broth). And that led me to my second question --- Should I be concerned about every bone broth? Where is the fear coming from? Well... it seems it might be a little political. There was a study done in the UK in 2013 that scared a lot of people. It's titled "The Risk of Lead Contamination in Bone Broth Diets". This study found high levels of lead in organic chicken bone broth, which is quite concerning. And, in fact, this one study is still cited in articles written today! Let's dig a little deeper. Let's go farther than the short abstract. Here are the broths tested in the study and their test results for lead: (9.5 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus skin and cartilage(7.01 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus bones(2.3 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus meat(0.89 parts per billion): Tap water alone cooked for the same amount of time as a control. But, they only used organic chicken from one farm. And, there's zero information about that farm, their practices, the feed, and the broth recipe. Did they use vinegar or wine in the broth? Was the chicken's water contaminated with lead? What was the quality of the feed and the soil? Were the chickens raised indoors or outdoors? So many unanswered questions! All we get is that it was one "organic chicken" that created a lead issue with broth. Another curious thing is that the broth with skin and cartilage contained more lead than the broth made with just bones. Bones are where lead is stored, so why wouldn't the broth made with bones only contain more lead? It's an odd result. Moreover, the abstract of the study specifically called out "bone broth diets" like GAPS and paleo. They even go so far as to write, "In view of the dangers of lead consumption to the human body, we recommend that doctors and nutritionists take the risk of lead contamination into consideration when advising patients about bone broth diets." That's quite curious. Why are they worried about these diets? Are the researchers anti healing through food? Who funded the research? Is it political? My opinion? This study is not comprehensive. It does not speak to all bone broths. But it does cover a potential issue if the water or animals are overloaded with heavy metals. What I glean from this study is that we need more research. We don't need fear to spread and people to stop drinking broth from this one study. Regardless of whether the fear was fabricated or legit, we tested our bone broth anyway. After all, it's always nice to validate that your food choices are as clean as you think. For Miller's, here were my concerns before testing: What if there's mercury in the fishmeal in our chicken feed?What if the soil that our animals live on is contaminated?What is the well water that the broth is made with is contaminated?What if the Celtic sea salt has lots of heavy metals? We got the test results back. I was super excited. But, I was also confused. At face value, it appeared that our bone broth tested NEGATIVE for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. You can find the test results right here! You'll notice that, for every sample, the results are "<0.01 mg/kg" and "<0.02 mg/kg". I asked the lab what the "<" means. They said that it indicates their limit of quantitation (LOQ), the lowest concentration that can be accurately tested using the test procedure in that sample type. So the results simply report that none of the metals tested were found in the sample above the specific reporting LOQs. Whether or not they were present below this LOQ is information that is not provided by the test. When talking to the lab, I told them what we needed and assumed that this test would go below a 1 ppb. So, when the results came in, I assumed that a "mg/kg" was the same as a part per billion (ppb). Ummm... that math wasn't write! A "mg/kg" is actually a part per million (ppm). That means that the test we ran had results saying that the broth had less than 0.02 ppm (or 20 ppb) of arsenic and lead. And, it had less than 0.01 ppm (or 10 ppb) of cadmium and mercury. For some reference, the EPA says that less than 15 ppb of lead is safe in drinking water. Not saying that I agree, but it's a good reference point. These results are good. It means the broth definitely isn't overloaded with toxic heavy metals. But, it's not good enough!!! We need to test again! We really need to a lower LOQ. We need to know the results with an accuracy of as low as 1 ppb. It looks like the lab we sent the original samples to doesn't have an LOQ that low. So here I am on the hunt for a lab to do it again. As soon as I can, I'll send samples in again and paying for more expensive testing to get the info you deserve. Stay tuned! I hope to have the new results in by the end of April 2025. Do you worry about toxic metals (or other junk) in your food? Where have your fears stemmed from? I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below (no account required) or contact us 😊 ----- Sources The risk of lead contamination in bone broth dietsBone Broth and Lead Toxicity: Should You Be Concerned?Bone Broth and Lead Contamination: A Very Flawed Study in Medical HypothesesBone Broth, Collagen, and Toxic Metals: A Research Review

Celebrating the Heritage of Corn on National Popcorn Lovers Day

You've probably heard a lot about GMO corn and its controversies, but did you know that corn, or maize as many Native Americans call it, is a cherished heritage food? Let's take a closer look at corn and learn about its history.

Useful and sharable resources for animal-based foods... that aren't scary

ANIMAL-BASED RESOURCE LIST

Ok, I know I'm missing a lot here. Please, help!

What animal-based, real food resources do you love? Have any suggestions to add to our list?

More from the blog

Raw milk or fermented dairy and lactose intolerance. Why might it help?

Our bone broth tested negative-ish for heavy metals 🥳 NATURAL AND CLEAN

Celebrating the Heritage of Corn on National Popcorn Lovers Day

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566